You're Not Garbage
by NinjaFanpire
Summary: Sorry I missed last weeks update of Calipso and Kid. November is rather busy for me. Here is a special story for all of my KidXLiz shippers.


"Patty!" Liz yelled from from the bottom of the stairs.

"WHAT SIS?" Patty yelled back from somewhere upstairs.

"Is Kid up there?" she heard Patty running around, then she appeared at the top of the staircase.

"He's not in his room." said Patty. "Is he playing hide and seek? Are we 'it' sis?"

"No, Patty. He probably just ran to the store or something." In reality, Liz was worried about Kid. It wasn't like him to go off without telling them, or at least leaving a note. It was a Sunday, and they didn't have any plans, and there was no school. Kid shouldn't have been anywhere but home. Maybe he had just gone to see his father.

Liz looked up, but Patty was gone, off doing...whatever it was Patty did in her free time. She walked over to the large mirror that towered over the fireplace in the living room. She drew out the familiar numbers, her hand shaking a bit.

_Liz, you're being ridiculous._ she thought to herself. _Kid is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Then again, why didn't he take Patty and me with him? He probably just went to have tea with his dad and forgot to tell us. That seems pretty early for—_

"HEYA!"

Liz was abruptly broken out of her thoughts as Lord Death answered.  
"AH!" she yelled, leaping behind the couch. When she peered over it again, she saw Lord Death in the mirror, scratching his head. She quickly dusted herself off as she walked back over to the mirror.

"Hey, can I talk to Kid for a minute?" Liz said. _I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when he—_

"You could, if he was here." replied Lord Death.

"You mean he's not?" Liz said flatly.

"Let me check." he turned around. "Hey Kid, are you here?" he put a hand to the side of his face, listening. "Nope, he's definitely not here."

"Well, thanks anyway." Liz sighed.

"Sure thing kiddo!" Lord Death said before he hung up.

He hadn't seemed worried at all that she didn't know where Kid was. Then again, Kid was a Shinagami, and there wasn't much that could seriously hurt him. Besides, Kid may have been a bit reckless, but when he was, he always had her and Patty with him.

Liz sat down on the couch, waiting for Kid to come through the door any moment. Something kept nagging at her, though. Where did Kid have to go that she and Patty couldn't go too? It just didn't make sense. He barely had any friends at school, and those he did have were her and Patty's friends too.

She decided to go into the kitchen and make a sandwich. It was already 11am, but she had barely woken up around 9, and it took her at least until 9:30 to actually get out of bed. Kid almost always had breakfast ready no matter how late she or Patty woke up.

Liz grabbed jelly from the fridge and peanut butter from one of the cupboards. She grabbed the bag of bread off the counter and a plate from another cupboard, and two knives from one of the drawers. She set the array on the table. The kitchen looked...spotless. That wasn't unusual at all, but it didn't even look like Kid had made breakfast at all.

Liz made herself two sandwiches, and then made two more for Patty. She didn't bother to clean up her mess. _Maybe if I leave this here it'll make Kid show up faster._

Kid hated messes almost as much as he hated asymmetry. Almost.

Liz walked to the bottom of the stairs carrying the two remaining sandwiches on a plate.

"Patty, get down here or I'll eat these myself!"

She heard thumping as Patty ran down the upstairs hall. She was down the stairs in a flash, grabbing the plate from Liz on her way to the living room. That was her favorite eating spot.

Patty sat down in front of the TV and switched it on. There were few channels that any of the three occupants of the house watched, but every time Patty was in the room it was always cartoons.

Patty sat contentedly in front of the television while she ate, her eyes glued to the array of colors on the screen.

Liz checked the clock. It was 12, and there was still no sign of Kid.

"Hey, I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" said Liz, glancing at Patty as she headed for the door. Patty made no acknowledgement whatsoever that there was anything else in the world around her than the TV. Liz sighed and shut the door behind her.

She glanced around, hoping to see Kid just walking home from somewhere. But there was no Kid. Liz decided to walk the perimeter of the house first. She walked all the way around it, calling his name, but there was no answer. She sighed as she reached the front door again. She opened, hoping that Kid might have come home while she was out looking for him. Nothing seemed changed from when she left. Patty was still glued to the TV. Liz walked to the kitchen to make sure that Kid wasn't there, but all that was there was her mess. She sighed and walked back out the door again.

Liz decided to check Maka and Soul's house. She was actually a little worried about Kid. Sure, normal things couldn't hurt him. But, there were times when he could hurt himself, and those were the times when he was in the most danger.

It was a short walk. Death City wasn't all too big, and most of the weapon and Meister housing was close together. As she walked, Liz looked down every alley way, hoping that she would see Kid. And yet, she hoped that she wouldn't see him there, in an alley of all places. She could just imagine him lying there, bleeding, helpless.

But that was nonsense. Kid had a fast healing rate. Even if he had gotten hurt, he should have been well enough to get help. Anyway, if anything serious had happened to him, Lord Death would have known, and he would have told Liz when she called.

But what if he had been kidnapped? He could be tied up in some old warehouse, while a band of thugs decided how much they wanted to ransom him for. Liz clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists.

_Liz, you are overreacting. Kid is totally fine. He probably just went to...somewhere, and lost track of the time. Or something. If he's fine, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind._

She had arrived at Maka and Soul's door. She knocked, then waited. Maka answered. Liz glanced over her shoulder for just a moment, noticing Soul on the couch reading a magazine. But there was no Kid in sight.

"Hey there Liz!" Maka greeted her with a friendly smile.

"Hey Maka. Uh, have you seen Kid around today?"

"Kid?" Maka paused, thinking. "No, not today. Come to think of it, I haven't seen any of you guys since Friday after school. Is everything okay?"

"Ya, we're all fine." _I hope._ "I just haven't seen Kid around today. He's probably off organizing some poor store owners' merchandise or something." Liz tried not to let Maka know that she was actually getting more worried by the second.

"Well, do you want to come in?" Maka asked.

"Thanks, but I have to figure out where Kid is. I'll see you later Maka. Bye Soul!" she called, turning away. Soul lifted his hand to wave, but his eyes didn't leave his magazine.

Liz started back home again, hoping that Kid would have shown up by the time she got back.

As she turned down the street to her house, she glanced across the road. She saw a garbage truck across the way, with a man dumping the contents of a metal trash can into the back.

She was reminded of something that she had heard Kid all too often say. _"I'm garbage! Trash! Worthless! Asymmetrical garbage! Just leave me out on the curb on garbage day! Garbage!"_

Garbage...day...

Liz ran down the sidewalk as fast as she could toward the house. _If he's where I think he is I'm going to kick his ass!_

She reached the alley by their house, where there were numerous trash bags and a few trash cans.

She picked up the lid of the first trash can and glanced into it. No Kid.

She slammed the lid down and lifted the lid of a second trash can. And there, sitting in a partially full trash can, was Kid.

Liz mentally sighed with relief. Kid was sitting with his legs folded against his chest and his head lying on his knees. He looked up at her with innocent eyes, but quickly put his face back down.

"KID YOU MORON!" Liz yelled at him. He didn't budge.

"Kid, just get up. Please." she said, more gently. Kid still didn't move.

Liz sighed and backed away. She swung back her foot and gave the metal can a swift kick. The sound ricocheted against the metal, making a gong-like sound.

"AHHHH!" Kid yelled, standing up and holding his ears.

"You. Out." Liz glared at him.

Kid looked at Liz, and his arms dropped to his side. "No. I've decided. Today I really am going out with the trash." He looked down and shut his eyes tight. "I'm nothing but garbage."

"Kid..." Liz sighed.

Kid moved his hands to the sides of the trash can, gripping it in case Liz tried to pull him out. Instead, she placed one finger on his chest. He looked up.

"You're _not_ trash."

Kid paused for a moment, staring blankly at Liz like he hadn't heard what she said. But it was a short lived silence.

"Yes. I. AM!" he said, waving a fist toward Liz. She used the garbage can lid as a shield while Kid pounded away at it with both fists, like a child throwing a tantrum.

After a minute or so he paused, breathing hard. Liz dropped the lid, and it clanged against ground of the stone alleyway.

"You idiot!" Liz yelled, slapping him in the face. He looked guiltily at Liz. Then she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Kid, you may be a lot of things...but trash isn't one of them. I don't know what I can say to make you realize that. But anyone who cares enough to take two girls from the roughest part of town...even when they threatened his life...and give them a place to call home...and a family...can _never_ be trash."

She heard Kid sniff, and even she had to compose herself before she ended the hug.

Kid put his hands to his face once his arms were free from Liz's grasp, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Kid, are you crying? Seriously?" said Liz. She waited a moment before hugging him again. "Kid...I love you." She paused.

Liz stood up quickly, pushing Kid away. "I mean, totally in the family sort of way, not like—"

When she pushed him, Kid fell against the back of the trash can. The tried to balance himself, but the can toppled backward with him still in it. He fell against a pile of filled trash bags.

"Kid, are you okay?" Liz said as she ran over next to him. She bent down by him as he sat up and pulled himself from the garbage can. He sat on the pile of trash bags and sighed. Liz sighed too.

"Kid, let's go inside. You...smell."

Kid sniffled and looked up, smiling. "Sorry."

Liz stood up and held out her hand. Kid grasped it and stood up. They began walking toward the house when Liz realized they were still holding hands. She pulled her hand away, blushing, and stuck both her hands in her pockets. Kid blushed, even redder than Liz, and put his hands in his pockets too.

They walked inside in silence, because there was nothing left to say.


End file.
